A REEVALUATION OF COGNITIVE EVALUATION THEORY WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGEMENT (MOTIVATION)
Abstract
When rewards were found to, in some situations, lead to a decrease in performance or motivation, significant effort went towards explaining this occurrence. However, the work surrounding these detrimental effects of rewards has not reached any single conclusion. While E. L. Deci's Cognitive Evaluation Theory (CET) has attempted to explain the detrimental effect of rewards on motivation, many challenge his conceptual framework and even, the existence of the actual phenomenon. A meta-analysis was employed to determine the existence of the detrimental effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Results from this analysis showed that within strictly defined parameters the phenomenon defined by Deci exists. Once defined, could the theoretical framework of CET be expanded so that contradictory finding in this area could be included? It was hypothesized that inclusion of a person's general motivational orientation (i.e. intrinsic or extrinsic) would affect the detrimental effects of rewards on intrinsic motivation. Hypotheses generated by both CET and Reinforcement Theory were compared. It was suggested that Reinforcement Theory provided a better, more inclusive framework for the detrimental effects of rewards on motivation. To test the hypotheses generated by Reinforcement Theory, the Jonckheere test was employed. This statistical technique tests whether the ordering of the cell means occur other than what be expected by chance. Results appeared to confirm that a person's general motivational/personality orientation defined the detrimental effects of reward. Extrinsic rewards will have a detrimental effect on intrinsic motivation when a person's orientation is intrinsic but will lead to greater intrinsic motivation if his/her orientation is extrinsic. This work clarifies some of the discrepancies in prior research on incentives in work environments. The fact that incentive systems have been found to sometimes improve and sometimes impair productivity can be viewed as a result of differing general motivational orientations of employees. The major practical implication of the present research is in suggesting the importance of establishing incentives that are appropriate to the employee's motivational orientation.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Management
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